Charles Bissue's lawyer to mount witness box to be cross examined by OSP on Jan 15

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Dec - 07 - 2023 , 11:37

The lawyer for Charles Bissue, Nana Agyei Baffour will on January 15, 2024 do the unusual thing by mounting the witness box to be cross examined by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), when the Accra High Court hearing the case between Charles Bissue and OSP reconvenes.

The lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour had deposed to an affidavit in June 2023 and said the OSP had obtained a warrant in June 2023 to arrest Charles Bissue.

Bissue on that basis filed an application in June 2023 to restrain the OSP from arresting him. The court went ahead and restrained the OSP.

But the OSP has always insisted that it does not need an arrest warrant to arrest Charles Bissue or any other suspect.

The OSP, therefore maintained that there was no such arrest warrant, which the office obtained in June 2023.

Charles Bissue is yet to produce the said arrest warrant, referenced in his application to the court.

At the Human Rights High Court on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, the court deferred the judicial review application filed by Charles Bissue against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to January 15, 2024.

Mr. Bissue seeks to challenge the said arrest warrant issued by the OSP on or around June 7, 2023, alleging that it was obtained through deceptive means. He contends that the OSP provided false information to secure the warrant.

OSP's position

In court, the OSP had challenged Bissue and his lawyer to provide the said arrest warrant, which had been referred to in the affidavit and the application to restrain the OSP from going ahead to arrest Bissue.

But that has not been done by Bissue.

Rather, Bissue and his lawyer have alleged that the OSP granted a media interview in August 2023, three months after they filed the application to challenge the arrest.

They have said it was in that media interview that the OSP referred to that arrest warrant.

It is based on this that the OSP applied for the court to grant that unusual move of inviting the lawyer for Bissue to mount the witness box to be cross examined.

The High Court has granted that application and on January 15, 2024, the lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour will be in the box for cross examination by the OSP.

It is the contention of the OSP that Mr Bissue and Nana Agyei Baffour "basically" and "deliberately" misled the court and that is why the court placed an injunction on the OSP to prevent the office from arresting Charles Bissue.

The OSP is therefore seeking the truthfulness of the deposition to the said affidavit by Nana Agyei Baffour that stated that the OSP had obtained an arrest warrant for Charles Bissue when it did not procure an arrest warrant on the said date.

The OSP is also arguing that it is wrong for a court to place an injunction on the office to prevent it from going ahead to arrest Charles Bissue as part of investigations.

Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh

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